Islanders Film Room: Executing The Slot Tip vs. Devils
Patrick Roy made tips a point of emphasis at Thursday's practice and we saw those lead to two goals against the Devils on Friday.
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Islanders Film Room: Executing The Slot Tip vs. Devils
At Thursday’s practice, Islanders head coach Patrick Roy called his players together.
The conversation focused on tips and redirects from the slot, as the team sought an answer to its goal-scoring woes.
The Islanders clearly took that conversation to heart, scoring two goals against the New Jersey Devils by doing just that.
Let’s head to the film roomv.
At the 1:23 mark of the first period, Brock Nelson deflected home an Adam Pelech point shot from inside the left dot over the glove hand of Jake Allen to give the Islanders an early 1-0 lead:
THE BREAKDOWN:
The Islanders’ second line got in on the forecheck.
After Kyle Palmieri won the puck battle and fed Pelech at the point, Nelson went to the edge of the left circle, closest to the slot.
Then, Nelson made sure to get body position on Devils defenseman Luke Hughes, putting his stick in the perfect shot, which it seemed Pelech aimed for and hit:
Brock Nelson on the goal:
“Just tried to find space. I think anytime you find yourself in front, you want to try and put a stick on it, make it tough for the goalie and the opposition.”
While not the same type of tip, the Islanders pulled this play off yet again at 11:28 of the second period when Kyle Palmieri deflected an Alexander Romanov slapshot off the rush to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead:
THE BREAKDOWN
After Palmieri fed Nelson in the neutral zone, Palmieri broke over the Devils blue line to fill the lane.
While he was doing that, Nelson read the play and saw that Romanov, the high guy, was coming in unguarded with Devils forward Curtis Lazar late to cover.
Romanov walked into the one-timer, and while he did that, Palmieri garnered position on Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon, tracking the puck and moving his stick down to get a piece and score the goal:
Patrick Roy on practicing this:
“Tonight, we scored goals that we probably would not have scored the last few games because of the tip. Nelly, with that high tip on that first goal. Palmsy, too. I think this is very good for us, very positive.”
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Overall physical play is the Islanders ticket to success. And the last few years they have been reluctant to get in the breach and mix it up. Hopefully Patty can inspire them or shame them into the fight. Romanov amongst all these leaders distilled winning in his post game last night. I hope the young man becomes more of a vocal leader on this team. Some players in our room need to be challenged from within the team to lay the body and sacrifice more. The skill is there maybe not in abundance, but is the WILL to mix it up and win? I saw it last night for the first time in a loooong time.
With the goaltending we are getting and all the advanced metrics we should be a more successful team. It’s really a matter of net front presence and just shooting the puck. Get into the middle and stop passing up shots, crash the net and be physical. Today’s NHL demands that commitment to play between the dots. PP has to stop trying to be the Avs, it’s not working. Take point shots get tips and buzz the crease. All the D Man should shoot more. We need volume not pretty tick tack toe plays.